Gandalf in Green Robes, Teacher Yang the Peach Blossom Hero (Part 1)

"What on earth are you two up to? Are you really cultivating?" Jasper Xiao's expression was the very definition of "confused but impressed"—he looked like he sort of got it, but also like he had no clue.

"Of course! We're practicing the Purification Manual," said Queen Jill, in a great mood. She explained simply, "There are eighteen diagrams in the Purification Manual. I've already mastered fourteen, so I'm basically a pro. But Big Lug hasn't even started—he's a total newbie. So this time, it's just a pro carrying a newbie, helping him level up and soar."

"Purification Manual? Legendary stuff, totally lives up to the hype. Just watching from the sidelines inspires me," Jasper Xiao said with feeling. "Looks like even if our paths are different, we can still learn from each other. So, did you help him soar yet? He looks like he's flying pretty high."

"Of course he soared—and straight to the top! Big Lug's got spiritual clarity and top-notch talent. Plus, we've got mental resonance and true spirit synergy, so the first twelve diagrams were a breeze. Even I was a little jealous!" Jill Young patted Teacher Yang on the shoulder. "But starting from the thirteenth diagram, things got tough. If we followed the usual routine, it’d take another ten days or so to succeed. But our schedule’s way too packed for that, so we came up with a sneaky shortcut."

"A sneaky shortcut?"

"Using outside help for cultivation." Teacher Yang, still half-asleep, didn’t talk much, but made an exception for Jasper and explained himself: "Basically, we absorb ice-type energy to speed up our training."

Teacher Yang already had some cosmic chill in his lower dantian—the strongest ice power they’d ever found. But with the twins’ current skills, there’s no way to refine it directly. Maybe after their internal strength reaches a breakthrough. Still, after some brainstorming, the twins came up with a clever workaround.

First, Teacher Yang unleashed his mini-move: spreading his Lunar Chill Essence everywhere and going full ice-man mode. While in ice-man mode, he mixed a tiny bit of Cosmic Frost Core into the Lunar Chill Essence.

Next, Queen Jill launched a full assault—no mercy, all-out, ruthless, beating him to a pulp. Meanwhile, Teacher Yang worked from the inside, pinpointing weak spots in the ice-man energy layer, guiding Queen Jill to hit the most fragile places.

Once Queen Jill smashed through the ice-man energy layer, Teacher Yang could use the chance to reel back the Lunar Chill Essence—along with that tiny bit of Cosmic Frost Core—and pull it into his middle dantian, instead of letting it retreat into the chill pearl. Once the Cosmic Frost Core was refined, it turned into a heavenly elixir, helping Teacher Yang instantly master the thirteenth diagram of the Purification Manual.

With Queen Jill’s success as a foundation, there was no worry about going astray or suffering a cultivation mishap.

After her explanation, Queen Jill got all fired up, whipped out her little notebook, and switched into scientist mode: "This method is actually pretty tricky—too much chill, no good; too little, no good; too early, nope; too late, still nope. Ugh, took so many tries to get it right just once. Efficiency is kinda low. Next time, I’ll go for a lower-level ice power—it’d probably work even better."

Teacher Yang nodded, then shook his head: "True, but my cultivation base is spiritual, so I don’t rely much on physical roots. Once I reach Saint Origin Rank and Moonlight Seventh Heaven, the Lunar Chill Essence will be even purer, and that’s already a strong ice-type energy—no rush to find outside help. But your foundation is physical, so you can’t slack off. Next step, we’ll find you some treasures. If pure energy’s hard to get, biological materials are a good target too."

"Makes sense. I heard there’s something called a Flame Demon in this world. I wonder what would happen if I used the Dragon-Elephant Extraction Technique on a Flame Demon," Jill Young mused, tapping her chin and snapping her fingers. "Oh, and didn’t Master Jin write about ‘Millennium Ice Silkworms’—like the ones You Tanzhi ate in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils? Next time, I’ll go bug hunting with Joan, and you can do your best Bear Grylls impression and chow down on some bugs. Should be helpful!"

"Sounds good to me." Eating bugs live didn’t seem to bother half-asleep Jack Young at all—he nodded earnestly, no psychological pressure whatsoever. "Don’t forget the Udumbara Elixir. The Udumbara has twin blooms of ice and fire, a legendary treasure in the martial world. Even the water used to grow it is a rare treasure, and the blossom itself is probably priceless. Next time I visit that world, I’ll focus on searching for it and see if it’s as magical as the legends say."

"Great idea, great idea! Oh, and we can also do this and that..."

Watching the twins suddenly turn into a brainstorming committee, Jasper Xiao could only grin helplessly. Still, being well-mannered, he waited quietly on the side and didn’t interrupt. Luckily, the twins were super efficient—three sentences and it was all sorted, so he didn’t have to wait long.

Once they finished, Jill Young finally seemed to remember him and smacked her forehead: "Eh? You’re still here? Wait, why are you here—need something?"

"Yeah, I do." Jasper Xiao got straight to the point: "I’m here to borrow some people. Things aren’t looking great in Middle-earth, so I need a few folks to help me out."

"No problem!" Jill Young agreed right away. "I won’t count the ones traveling outside. There are about twenty Chosen Ones following Brooke Rain in Sun and Moon Mountain—old crew from the Shanghai era, totally trustworthy. Just ask Brooke Rain; if she’s cool with it, I’m cool with it."

"Alright." Even though the big boss had the final say, there were still factions underneath. For example, the squad of Chosen Ones that Rachel Luo gathered during the Shanghai Zombie King incident was still led by Brooke Rain. Plus, since they’d already worked directly with the twins and Jasper Xiao before, everyone got along pretty easily.

But some elite members were a different story, so Jasper Xiao asked again: "Also, I’d like to borrow Senior Brother Mentor for a bit."

"Senior Brother Mentor?" Jill Young was a little curious. "He’s got nothing on his plate right now. After this round of special training, we realized he’s really not cut out for martial arts, so he’s not assigned anything. But what do you need him for—giving the kings some therapy?"

"Exactly." Jill Young was joking, but Jasper Xiao nodded seriously: "The situation in Middle-earth is getting weird—strange events popping up everywhere, and we suspect Sauron is constantly reviving. Plus, the attitudes of the various kings are suddenly getting complicated, so I’m recommending Gandalf and Senior Brother Mentor as envoys to visit the nations. With Senior Brother Mentor’s skills, he’ll make a great envoy. Also, I’m worried Sauron might pull a Saruman and mess with people’s minds, so I want Senior Brother Mentor to do some psychic checks and clear out any hidden threats."

"Specialists for special jobs—Senior Brother Mentor’s perfect for this. Approved. But even though his skills are top-notch, his mental strength isn’t that great, so I’m worried he won’t hold up against Sauron’s mind attacks. When he’s dream-diving, you and Gandalf need to stay close and keep him from getting sniped by Sauron’s psychic powers." After approving two requests, Jill Young noticed Jasper Xiao still had more on his mind: "Anything else?"

"Yeah, I need to borrow one more person. But this time, it’s not for my own mission—it’s... well, it’s something good."

"Something good? What kind of good thing?" Jill Young was genuinely curious. "Who’s the lucky one?"

"Well... I’ll just talk to him directly—yep, it’s him!" Jasper Xiao suddenly got a weird look and pulled the always-calm Teacher Yang aside, leaving Queen Jill full of question marks behind him. He threw an arm around Teacher Yang’s shoulder and led him away, making sure to walk a few extra steps and use holy light energy to lock down their voices. He winked: "Teacher Yang, your good fortune has arrived!"

"Good fortune?"

"Shhh—secret transmission!" Jasper Xiao’s eyebrows and eyes were working overtime, looking just like a spy in a Republican-era drama: "Can’t let her hear!"

"Uh... okay, I guess." Whatever this super-secret thing was, it got Teacher Yang interested too. He switched to secret transmission mode: "So what’s up? With that look and those moves, you remind me of one of those mysterious uncles selling bootleg DVDs in alleyways a decade ago... Don’t tell me it’s some kind of scandal?"

"Hey! Who’s a mysterious bootleg DVD uncle?" The paladin couldn’t let that slide, but his righteous look didn’t last long—soon he was wearing that classic 'all men know' grin. Honestly, it was the first time anyone had seen Jasper Xiao look like this, totally at odds with his knightly image: "But seriously, you really hit the jackpot this time—romantic windfall!"

"Romantic windfall?" Teacher Yang pointed at himself in disbelief. "Me? I haven’t gone anywhere, where would I get a romantic windfall?"

"How should I know! There’s a goddess who wants to travel with you—she sent an invitation, but you kept ghosting her. Now she’s getting impatient and sent me to fetch you! Seriously, bro, you’ve got the home flag flying and the outside flags waving—this is a major romantic win!" Jasper Xiao punched Teacher Yang in the chest, eyes sparkling. "It’s Galadriel! The Elven Queen! Gandalf’s been flirting with her forever and got nowhere, but you show up and she’s all eager—maybe he should ditch the White Robes and become the Green Robe Patriarch!"

"Galadriel?" Now that was a surprise. The Elven Queen has eternal life, and immortals don’t really care about time, but she couldn’t even wait a month before sending someone herself—she must be really impatient.

"Alright, enough stalling—get moving!—Wait, actually, I’ve got to ask you something." Jasper Xiao grabbed Teacher Yang, his face so serious it was almost heavy metal: "You... didn’t tell her about my... thing, did you?—Don’t play dumb! You know, that thing! You didn’t tell her, right?"

Watching Jasper Xiao desperately gesture toward Jill Young, Teacher Yang was silent for a long time before he finally told the truth: "I... didn’t say anything. Not a word."

"Whew, that’s a relief." Whether he was happy or disappointed, Jasper Xiao let out a long breath. Then he started urging: "Go on, go on—life coach, hit the road! With this epic romantic windfall, when else will Gandalf get to become the Green Robe Patriarch? What are you waiting for? Go, go, go!"

With Jasper Xiao pushing him, Teacher Yang figured he might as well go pay a visit. He quickly set out for Silvermoon Forest with Rachel Luo, while Jill Young stayed at Sun and Moon Peak. No more dual cultivation for now, but she was still swamped—her schedule was packed.

And besides, it was about time to start forging their exclusive divine weapons.

She rolled up her sleeves, ready to fire up the furnace and add some spirit flame for a big project, when she turned around and saw Jasper Xiao still standing there.

"Eh? Why are you still here? Aren’t you supposed to be leading the charge, visiting the nations?" Jill Young pointed down the mountain. "Yuxi and the others are gone, but you’re still here—what’s the deal?"

"Uh... well..." Why was he so eager to send Teacher Yang off? Obviously, it wasn’t just to help him find romance! This righteous paladin was starting to scheme and plot himself.

But... what excuse should he use?

After a long pause, Jasper Xiao suddenly clapped his hands, having figured out his excuse. He grinned, flashing his white teeth: "I want to learn the Purification Manual too, hehehe..."